* * * * *
Kurtis slid into NightHawk’s cockpit, feeling out of place as the war machine came to life around him. Before coming to Mars, he had spent as much time as the other three in the simulators, practicing combat scenarios and fighting in his Mech armor. Since his arrival on Mars though, he had higher priorities and chose to focus on them instead. Now, he quietly berated himself as the hangar around him thrummed with life.
The environmental technicians had practically thrown him into his pilot’s suit while Argos directed the small army of maintenance technicians that swarmed around his unit, preparing it for combat in record time. He licked his lips, kicking up the drip of the IV into his arm as he began walking NightHawk to the Launchpad. A number of thoughts entered his mind at that moment, but the only thing on which he could focus on was Aurora’s feral grin meeting his gaze during that moment of uncertainty, staring at him knowingly. Her core consciousness was cut off from all access to the outside world, there was no way that she should have been aware of what was happening with an almost prescient sentience.
He throttled up the engines as the Launchpad attached itself, engaging the afterburners after the ceramic shield rose into place. The hangar echoed with the roar of the engines as they ramped up to full output. Argos deployed the wings, and then settled the unit into a crouch as the visual timer on his HUD began counting down.
“NightHawk, ready for launch!!!” Kurtis screamed into the mic on cue, his voice nearly cracking from stress as he did so.
Suddenly, the world around him began racing in the opposite direction as he was thrown backwards into the pilot’s seat. NightHawk exited the airlock in the side of Mount Olympus without any fanfare, a silent streak racing through the black night smothering the planet. Unlike Earth, there were no lights to dot the plain unfolding below him, with their beacons of human existence winking at him as he glided through the thin atmosphere. In front of him, the only thing he saw was darkness encompassing the strange alien terrain, distances stretching out impossibly far below him.
On Mars, a human could see much further than back in the smog-choked atmosphere of Earth. Terrain features on both planets were similar, but those on Mars still managed to exude a sense of alien strangeness by the fact that everything was simply bigger. Mount Olympus was the largest volcano in the galaxy. Surrounding the cone of the volcano was a continent sized plateau named the Tharsis Bulge. For comparison, the Himalaya’s were the tallest mountain range on Earth, and were tiny by contrast. Beyond the plateau, the Bulge fell away suddenly, as if Mars was flat and there were simply nothing, except oblivion beyond the edge. Kurtis knew that below the plateau, cracks that seemed large enough to split the planet in half, ran across nearly a third of the mammoth red marble of a planet, serving as the galaxy’s strangest belt.
As marvelous and strange as the sights unfolding below him were, Kurtis ignored them, focused only on his friends and whether or not he would arrive in time to join them before the PDF battalion arrived at their location. He silently urged NightHawk forward as a pair of timers on the HUD counted down to one seemingly inevitable conclusion. One timer counted down until the PDF brigade appeared on scene, and the other time was his estimated time of arrival, ETA. Kurtis chewed his lip, nearly frantic with nervousness, as there was nothing for him to do except stare at how little time there was in between the two counters.
Argos re-routed all of the power to the engines, holding nothing back as they screamed under the strain of maximum output. Although NightHawk was smaller than any of the other three Omnos Mech armor, its reactor was nearly as large as Intrepid’s. In this instance, that reactor allowed for a blistering pace through the thin atmosphere. NightHawk could not achieve full flight due to the lack of air to provide lift for the wings, but his speed compensated and allowed such a gradual rate of decline in altitude that it could be mistaken as nearly true flight.
An hour passed as Kurtis unknowingly fell asleep, the stress and extended lack of sleep overwhelmed him once he had nothing to do. What felt like seconds later, Argos began juicing him through the IV, flooding his body with adrenaline and the mental boosting drug cocktail. He awoke with a start, disoriented, as the HUD displayed feeds from the cameras located throughout his Mech, momentarily giving him the impression that he was falling from a great height. He spent a few moments re-orienting and eating a nutrient bar that utterly failed to imitate the flavor listed on the label. Only then did he begin performing a full systems check and mentally preparing himself for the upcoming battle.
“The area where the other squad members were operating was undergoing intense wide-area electronic jamming on top of the problems with the laser communications network. All attempts to reach them and announce our arrival are proving unsuccessful,” Argos announced over the speakers in the cockpit, breaking the silence.
“Do something about the jamming Argos, that’s what I’m paying you for. In the meantime, keep trying to reach them, and get ready to fight. The shit is officially about to hit the proverbial fan.” Kurtis retorted.
“I would like to point out that you don’t actually pay me, Sir; and if anything, my services are utilized in a similar manner to that of a slave: which I have been meaning to bring to your attention for some time now. By the way, how does shit hit a fan? Those are two objects of a highly different nature, and the very act seems strange and highly counterproductive.”
“Wait. What? Really? Never mind. Just shut up and do your job Argos, we don’t have time for any of this,” Kurtis said, making a quick reference note in an electronic journal to remind him at a later date to examine the record of the conversation that just took place.
“Our ETA to the Omnos squad is three minutes,” announced Argos, once again all business.
The full systems check came back with everything functioning nominally. Kurtis began charging the energy shields and cycling the weapons, preparing them for action. Their IF signature displayed itself on a dedicated monitor off to his side, currently a pulsing red, meaning that even the outdated PDF sensors would see his approach, which strangely enough was a good thing in this situation. He may not be able to communicate with the other members of his squadron, but their sensors were far superior to the PDF and there was no doubt in his mind that Athena had already detected his imminent arrival.
The turbulence began to increase as NightHawk’s altitude decreased. After making some last minute checks of his pilot suit and the straps physically binding him in place, Kurtis nervously removed his helmet and gloves, not wanting any constriction during the fighting. Camera feeds attempted to zoom in and find the location of the other Omnos squad members, but the dust kicked up from the battle and so many passing supply vehicles choked the air with its presence, masking everything in the swirling maelstrom. It had been some time since Argos had been able to generate a real-time map of the area of combat, leaving him with little information to go on once he arrived. One thing he knew was that they were directly approaching the last known position of the PDF closing their trap from behind the supply convoy, meaning that he was likely about to face off against a large number of enemies.
While every Omnos squad unit had its own unique abilities and specialties, aside from the similarities between DawnsLight and Starkindler, NightHawk was different from any of them, and every other kind of Mech armor as well. As a rule, Mech armor generally followed the principle of basing their frames off humanoid bi-pedals, a simple but maneuverable form. NightHawk had the largest wings, which when retracted draped along the back nearly to the ground. They were wider and longer than the wings on its sister units. The torso of his unit was a sleek egg shaped sphere. Underneath the torso were short stubby legs that did not have a joint in their middle to facilitate flexion. Spindly arms were offset by an enormously prodigious head. If appearances alone were any indication, then NightHawk was indeed a Mech armor fit for sending small children, and combat hardened soldiers, running away in fear.
The strangely shaped torso contained
a reactor with nearly the same output as Intrepid’s, which physically dwarfed any of the other Mech armor. Inside the head were a large number of sensors designed for intelligence gathering, cyber warfare, and information management purposes that were unique to NightHawk. A super computer was built into the walls of the cockpit, serving as the mainframe for Argos. Jutting out of the exterior armor, were an array of point defense cannons, and what appeared to be larger versions of point defense cannons, with barrels pointed in every direction. The spindly arms were too small to have built-in cannons, and instead NightHawk carried a 3.57” automatic rifle bolted onto hard points on the inside of the right arm; the stock nestling snugly inside the equivalent of an armpit, zeroing out all of the kickback from the rifle firing. A 5,000 round automatic feeding system wrapped down the arm and into a magazine on the lower back of the unit. During combat, Kurtis could flip a selector switch, choosing from three different types of rounds, seamlessly switching between types while maintaining continuous fire. The first switch selected the standard munition, custom high-explosive rounds boasting three times the firepower of equivalent standard military munitions, the second switch selected kinetic slugs made from pure tungsten tipped with depleted uranium penetrators, and the third switch selected a custom option dubbed Confusers.
Modern technology had advanced to the point that long standard countermeasures, such as basic smoke rounds, were simply no longer useful. While back on Earth, the Omnos squad members designed Confusers to not only emit radar deflecting smoke, but also fly slowly around a battlefield, with enough propellant in them in order to remain aloft for several minutes. The munitions adjusted their flight patterns based on instructions derived from computer algorithms Argos generated. While flying in their random patters, the Confusers, through a technical feat of supreme mastery, appeared on enemy sensors to be as large and indistinguishable as medium sized drones, cluttering up enemy radar returns with false positives. A phosphorous nose in each shell burned bright enough to distract any incoming heat-guided warheads, while also blinding anyone looking directly at the decoy shell. Small transmitters in the center of the warhead used the shells' casing as an antenna to broadcast pre-programmed radio signals, thereby confusing any warheads attempting to lock on via radio waves. Confusers were pre-loaded, one in every twenty rounds, in the same way that tracers would have been in ancient automatic weapons. There was also an extra five hundred round reserve magazine of the Confusers held separately to draw from. From the start of the battle, Kurtis was primed to create chaos, and then to dominate the battlefield.
With the systems check over, a marker appeared on the HUD as Argos identified a location to land that was just outside the reach of the PDF. Kurtis gritted his teeth, crossed his arms, which Nighthawk mimicked, crossing its arms and therefore cradling the rifle against its chest protectively, and then Kurtis vectored the engine thrust while simultaneously cutting the afterburners and kicking out the pedals controlling the wings. The engines physically shifted position, swinging about nearly reverse to their previous angle while the wings flared upwards, clawing for whatever drag was available in order to reduce his momentum.
They landed softly, hidden amongst the maelstrom of dust enveloping them and the overall field of battle, before Kurtis immediately flared the engines. NightHawk surged forward along the ground, hovering just above the landscape. Kurtis worked the pedals and the other flight controls with true mastery, micro-managing the engine thrust like a magician, all while his hands flew over the keyboards in front of him as he attempted to circumvent the wide area jamming. In the background Argos watched everything he did, duplicating his effort, ready to assume control or rectify a mistake at any moment. He ran a series of programs that attempted to identify what was causing the jamming and then trace the signals in order to isolate its location.
Above the cockpit, a radar system spun, blasting out high-powered radio waves in a focused beam. A typical system would utilize wide-beam radar, which swept across a broad area defined by the size of its power source, seeing everything in front of where it was focused. Due to the jamming, wide-beam radar was useless. Kurtis was using the focused radar beam that a weapon, or targeting system, used in order to find the location of the jamming source. It was searching for the location where the jamming signal was the most potent.
Instead, due to some clever tweaks by Argos and the capability of their radar system, he discovered the location of the PDF. They were in place behind a series of small sand dunes, trapping his friends who were fighting desperately to save the supply convoy. Kurtis felt anger well up inside of him, and before he realized what he was doing, NightHawk was racing across the plain towards the enemy.
The PDF in front of Kurtis were in a formation that placed their drones between them and the three Omnos squad members. The drones were followed by a layer of infantry and finally the Mech armor. Not only were they arrayed in order of increasing firepower, but their formation allowed everyone to fire simultaneously, creating a wall of fire the Omnos squad could not pierce.
As an outside force engaging from behind, Kurtis found the backs of the PDF Mech armor completely exposed. He immediately opened fire with the rifle, selecting tungsten slugs as he targeted a squadron of Slayers now directly in front of him. Built to destroy heavier and more modern armor, the slugs ripped through the weak back plating of the Slayers with ease. In the span of seconds, he wiped out the entire squadron before they could react, flanking right as he engaged a second squadron of Slayers turning towards him.
Drones and a few infantry immediately reacted to the new threat, but Argos simply cut power to the engines, re-routing it to the energy shields, shrugging off their attempts to slow NightHawk down. Knowing exactly what his unit was capable of, Kurtis finished off the second squadron and then advanced through the enemy lines, pursuing nearby targets. Around him, the point defense cannons began firing with increasing regularity until they sounded as if they were operating under one continuous stream of anti-missile fire. In the meantime, the other tubes that appeared visually similar to the smaller versions began firing a steady stream of laser fire against the infantry and drones surrounding them, all while Kurtis continued picking off Mech armor with the rifle. The older model PDF Mech armor stood absolutely no chance against the frenzied attack. Their numbers were overwhelmed by the steady stream of accurate and powerful fire Argos directed their way.
Kurtis created a hole through the center of the PDF lines, splitting their force in half. The inexperienced enemy pilots, who compounded their vulnerability by using outdated equipment, were unable to adjust to the sudden onslaught. Attacked from behind, watching dozens of their friends and commanders die, many of them turned and began to flee as their lines crumbled. The ones who remained were spread too thinly. In a last minute bid to overwhelm him, a full company of infantry counter attacked, using their powered combat suits to keep pace with their mechanized vehicles, using the vehicles for cover while simultaneously commanding dozens of drones to swoop in from the sides. Instead of retreating as they expected, NightHawk surged forward, directly into the center of the mechanized vehicles, death and destruction rippling outwards as the point defense cannons and lasers fired continuously in the target rich environment.
Unwilling to fire on their compatriots, the PDF infantry were again caught off guard while the drones had their targeting capabilities locked out due to the proximity of friendly forces. The company of infantry and supporting drones were wiped out en masse, their counter attack utterly failed in their attempt to dislodge him. Frozen in horror by the carnage, the remaining Slayer pilots were easy targets. Kurtis refused to show mercy, steadily eliminating them, knowing that if the tables were turned no mercy would be shown to him or his friends. Nearly a hundred drones of various types remained in the local area, but Argos bore down on them with all of his hacking capability, overloading their memory banks with false commands, forcing them to stand idly by in confusion. Kurtis ignored the remaining infantry as he fi
nished sweeping across the area, leaving them to the point defense cannons under the control of Argos, instead focusing on the remaining Mech armor.
As another pair of Slayers blossomed into short-lived fiery infernos, realization dawned on Kurtis that all of the Mech armor were older models, most of them so out of date that they would have difficulty fighting against any of the less advanced rebel factions. Immediately, his mind began analyzing the reasons why such outdated equipment was being used in the field and the ramifications of doing so. He continued mulling over the clear evidence, as he finished off a third squadron of Slayers that were unable to defend themselves from the high-powered rifle cutting them down.
Feeling increasingly uneasy about what he was missing, Kurtis finally concluded that the forces he was up against were not the main threat. The only reasonable explanation was that the PDF commander had severely underestimated the rebel force guarding the supply convoy, deploying older models against what he expected would be a large number of Lazarus faction guards. Instead he found the vastly technologically superior Omnos squad.
Kurtis glanced over at the timer in the corner of the HUD, counting down until the brigade of PDF reinforcements arrived. Less than twelve minutes remained. Just then, Argos located the jamming unit in the center of a company of mechanized infantry, heavily encircled by drones. Two squadrons of Slayers were headed for the position in an obvious attempt to bolster their defenses. He toggled the switch for standard munitions in the rifle and began advancing through the enemy positions along the way, pouring out a steady stream of high-explosive death as he went. The remaining infantry and drones attempted to fend him off, but their acts of resistance were futile. NightHawk remained at the extreme range of their missiles, which its point defense cannons expertly continued to shoot out of the air, as Kurtis toggled the Confusers to fire every fifth shell and never stopped firing.
Nemesis (The MechaVerse Trilogy Book 2) Page 25